AI, Bots and Canvases Part III: Gates and Ballmer paved the path for Nadella's AI and bots

According to Microsoft's Satya Nadella, Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, Viv's Dag Kittlaus and others, we are on the threshold of an age of AI and bots.
For those who have just "tuned into" the tech scene, the bot and AI future we're now entering may appear to be a new revolution fueled by the "me too" efforts of established companies and start-ups alike. This assumption would be an error. The industry has been moving toward this goal for decades. In fact, the technology has only recently caught up with the tech dreams of those who came before us.

Investments in machine learning, natural language processing and deep neural networks have finally begun yielding the fruit where artificial intelligent sidekicks that know us and can act proactively on our behalf seems well within reach. Though many companies have invested in, advocated for and applied these technologies in their products through the years, Microsoft has been one of the earliest and most deeply invested leaders in the industry.